Safety razor



March 17, 1942. J. MUROS 2,276,331

SAFETY RAZOR Filed June 24, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l 4 A INVENTOR ATTORNEY March J. MUROS 2,276,331

SAFETY RAZOR Filed June 24, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 17, 1942 UNIT STTS

SAFETY RAZOR Joseph Muros, Cambridge, Mass, assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application .liine 24, 1939, Serial No. 280,962

14 Claims. (01. 30-35) This invention relates to safety razors of the stropping type employing a rocking blade holder to present first one side and then the other side of the blade to a strop as the razor is moved back and forth thereon, or as the strop moves back and forth through the razor. The well-known Autostrop Safety Razor shown, for example, in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,624,323, April 12, 1927, is one commercial example of such razors.

The present invention consists in improved mechanism for guarding both sides of the cutting edge of the blade in such razors, or for determining a definite amount of blade edge exposure.

between two relatively movable guard members therein.

Heretofore in razors of the stropping type a toothed guard has been located in position to guard one side of the blade edge when the blade is in shaving position-that is, the side away from the face of the user in shaving. Various attempts have been made correspondingly to guard the exposed side of the blade edge but none has been entirely successful. If an attempt is made to thicken the blade holder itself the holder then interferes with the proper presentation of the blade to the strop in sharpening or results in more stropping of one side of the blade than the other, and a guard located permanently on the exposed side of the blade prevents satisfactory stropping.

The object of the present invention is to solve this problem of many years standing and to provide a simple, compact and effective mechanism adapted to be manufactured inexpensively and operative to guard completely both sides of the blade edge when the blade is in shaving position and to release or expose the blade fully for the stropping operation. To this end, an important feature of the invention consists in a guard member movable on the seat side of the blade into guarding relation with respect to the blade edge and a second or supplementary member movable in a different path into position to guard the other side of the blade edge, both in combination with a single operating device for moving the two guard members. As herein shown both guards may be formed as articulated elements of a single assembly and may be mounted for movement from an open position, in which they are both located below the strop, to a closed position in which they embrace the blade edge, effectively guarding both sides thereof and determining a safe edge exposure for shaving.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan or end view of the razor on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation showing the blade guarded in shaving position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the blade unguarded for stropping;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in perspective of greatly enlarged scale of the principal and supplementary guard members and their supporting. means;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the movement of the two guards; and

Fig. 9 is a view in perspective of the principal guard member.

The razor herein shown comprises a handle it rigidly connected at its upper end to a frame or head in which are carried the blade holding, guarding and stropping elements of the razor. The frame has a pair of upstanding side members H and ll. between which are journaled two parallel rolls l3 and I4 having intermeshing pinions at one end so that they oscillate or rock equally and oppositely together. A blade holder is formed integral with the upper roll I4 and comprises a flat carrier plate [5 having projections arranged as part of the letters of the word Valet to fit corresponding apertures in the blade 25 and pivotally mounted end clamps or dogs !5 which co-operate to retain a blade squarely in position upon the plate [5 but which may be readily swung outwardly to release the blade when it is desired to remove the latter for cleaning or for replacement.

The frame or head is providedin its lower portion with two transverse guide bars I! and I8 having upwardly convex surfaces which serve to direct the strop IS in a smooth curve into frictional engagement with the lower side of the lower roll It when the strop is inserted in the razor and passed through it above the guide bars l1 and I8 and beneath the roller it as shown in Fig. 5. The frame is provided at each side with two forwardly extending triangular brackets 2| in which the guard member and its operating connections are mounted. The brackets are disposed vertically each with its apex forwardly directed. The lower guard and blade-holding member is shaped from thick sheet metal and comprises a transversely extending body portion 22 pivotally supported between pivots 23'projecting inwardly from the brackets 2| adjacent to the inner or vertical edge of these brackets. A finger piece 24 projects rearwardly from the body of the guard member 22 being perforated to permit the free passage of the handle I0 and ex-.

tending slightly beyond the rear guide bar I! of the frame into position where it may be easily manipulated by the user. The guard member is extended at its forward side to form a series of guard teeth 25 which curve outwardly and downwardly from a transverse corrugation or bar 26, the latter serving as a blade stop or blade seat to determine the shaving position of the blade in the razor. It will be understood that when the blade is in shaving position it'rests upon the bar 26, as shown in Fig. 2, while the teeth 25 are located immediately below the blade edge thus effectively guarding it upon the side away from the face of the user. As is common in such razors the endmost teeth of the series areprovided with hooks 21 for holding the blade, guarding the extreme corners of its edge and preventing them from scratching the user.

The second or supplementary guard member is generally bail-shaped and comprises a pair of angular side pieces 30 connected by a guard bar 3| which is shaped to extend across the upper or exposed side of the blade edge when the blade is positioned for shaving, for the purpose of guarding that side of the edge and determining with the guard teeth 25 an appropriate degree of edge exposure for safety in use. The side pieces 30 of this guard member are provided with straight slots 32 into which extend stationary studs or pins 33 projecting inwardly from the brackets 2! of the frame. The side pieces 3|] are also pivotally connected by means of pivots 34 to downwardly extending lugs 36 on the forward corners of the guard member 22, see Fig. 9. Thus, it will be seen that the supplementary guard is pivotally connected to the uard member 22 and has pin and slot connection with the frame.

When the guard member 22 is rocked in a clockwise direction and to the limit of its movement, as shown in Fig. 2, the guard bar 3! is located in operative position above and in contact with the blade just above its sharp edge. When the guard member 22 is rocked in an opposite direction, however, the pivots 34 in the guard at once act to swing the supplementary guard members 3il3l forwardly and downwardly in a path controlled by the movement of the slots 32 of the guard upon the stationary piece 33, that is, the guard bar 30 partakes of the full pivotal movement of the guard member 22 which carries it and, in addition to that, it ha the further movements of translation and rocking above-described. Consequently, it moves further and faster than the guard teeth 25 and is carried from its operative position above the blade edge as shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. '7, to an inoperative position beyond and below the blade edge where it is entirely out of range of the rocking movement of the blade on its holder and entirely below the path of the strop H! as shown in Fig. or Fig. 6.

In further explanation of the movement of the supplementary guard 333l it will be noted that this guard is carried bodily by the pivot pins 34 in the free end of the main guard 22. Th main uard swings about the stationary axis of the pivots 23. The supplementary guard has in its sides the slots 32 which slide on the stationary pin 33 projecting inwardly from the brackets 2 I. As the pivot pins 34 move upwardly, when the finger piece 24 is depressed for rocking the supplementary guard about the stationary pins 33, they also approach these stationary pins and the slots 32 permit the necessary st motion to occur, that is, in arriving at the dead center position of Fig. 7 the pivot pins 34 have moved closer to the stationary pins 33 than they were in the position of Fig. 6. This is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 8 where reference characters 23, 33 and 34 have been used to indicate corresponding position of the pins bearing the same reference characters in the razor. The pivot pins 34 move about the axis of the pivot pins 23 from the position 34 i .to 3413. The supplementary guard -3l however must swing about the stationary pins 33 which, unless lost motion was provided, would carry the pins 34 to the position 34A. In order to strop has been withdrawn from the razor a clockwise movement of the finger piece 24 of the guard member is effective to swing the guard teeth 25 into operative position beneath the blade edge and swing the guard member 30 into its operative position above the blade edge. Thus, the blade edge is embraced and completely guarded on both sides by the simple movement of the finger piece 24, a movement to which the user has been already accustomed for many years in positioning the lower guard teeth and locking the blade in its shaving position.

There are a number of other advantages incident to the construction of my invention which may be pointed out. In the first place, the construction is very compact so that the user is in no way hampered in manipulating a razor so equipped in shaving, stropping or replacing the blade.

The compact structure is partly the cause and partly the result of the fact that a short movement of the supplementary guard is adequate to shift it from guarding position to inoperative position out of the path of the strop. It will be noted also that the supplementary guard is so located that pressure against the face tends always to close the guard, thus automatically eliminating the danger to the user of accidental exposure of the blade. Further, since the position of the supplementary guard above the blade is determined by movement of the finger piece 24, there is present in the razor provision for adjusting the edge exposure of the blade within certain limits. For example, if the blade exposure is dangerously great when the supplementary guard i fully seated upon the upper surface of the blade the finger piece may be rocked to displace the guard bar slightly in a forward direction and so reduce the exposure of the blade between the' bar 3i and the teeth 25. It will be noted also that in its open position the supplementary guard lies in front of the blade edge thus guarding it in this position.

In order to avoid accidental scuffing of the sharp blade edge against the bar 3| of the guard the bar is provided with a shoulder 35 adjacent to each end and these shoulders act as positive steps for holding the sharp edge of the blade out of contact with the bar except at its extreme corners. In other words, there is no way in which the blade holder and the guard can be manipulated to bring the shaving portion of the blade edge into damaging contact with the guard. Finally, it will be noted that the guard is mounted independently of the rocking holder so that the weight of the holder is in no way increased. It has been found that any increase in the inertia of the rocking of the blade holder, tending to delay the prompt release of the blade edge from the strop, introduces a danger of cutting the strop. Safety razors may, therefore, be equipped with the structure of my invention without impairment in this respect.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described one embodiment thereof for purposes of illustration, but not by any means in a limiting sense, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a safety razor having a handle, a blade seat and a blade thereon, a toothed guard member mounted on the seat side of the blade for movement into guarding relation to the blade edge, a supplementary guard member carried bodily by the movable guard member and movable itself with relation thereto in a path to guard the other side of the blade edge, and a single operating device for moving both guard members.

2. In a safety razor having a handle and a blade holder arranged to be rocked by movement of a strop through the razor, a blade seat for determining the shaving position of the blade, spaced co-operating guard members, and means for moving them simultaneously and relatively to each other into positions guarding the opposite sides of the edge of a blade on said seat.

3. In a safety razor having a handle and a blade holder mounted to be rocked by movement of a strop through the razor, a blade seat for determining the shaving position of the blade and the path of the strop, and spaced co-operating guards connected for simultaneous and relative movement from positions out of the path of the strop to positions guarding'opposite edges of a blade on said seat.

4. In a safety razor having-a handle and a blade holder mounted to be rocked by the movement of a strop through the razor, a pair of spaced elongated guards arranged to embrace bei tween them both sides of the edge of a blade in the holder, and means for simultaneously moving both guards to expose both sides of the blade edge to the action of the strop.

5. In a safety razor having a handle, a head and a rocking blade holder mounted therein, a pivotally mounted plate shaped to present a blade seat and a series of guard teeth for one side of the edge of a blade, and a bail-shaped guard member pivotally mounted at its ends on said plate and arranged to swing with respect to said plate to and from position upon the opposite side of the blade from said guard teeth.

6. In a safety razor having a handle, a head and a rocking blade holder mounted therein, a pivotally mounted plate having guard teeth shaped to underlie a blade in the head, and a bail-shaped member having a guard bar and being mounted on said plate and movable with respect to the plate to and from guarding position above the blade.

7. In a safety razor having a handle, a head and a rocking blade holder mounted therein, a plate shaped to present a transverse blade seat and curved guard teeth underlying a blade positioned thereon and being mounted in the head f r limited swinging movement, and a supplementary guard member pivoted at its opposite ends to said plate and movable to bridge the blade when the plate is swung toward the blade.

8. In a safety razor having a head and a blade holder therein, a pivotally mounted guard member movable toward and from one side of a blade in said holder, and a supplementary guard pivotally mounted in the guard member first-mentioned and having a pin and slot connection with the head.

9. In a safety razor having a head and a blade holder therein, a pivotally mounted guard plate terminating at one edge in a series of guard teeth, and a supplementary guard pivotally mounted on said guard plate adjacent to the ends of said series of guard teeth and having a pin and slot connection to the head at points inside its said points of pivotal connection.

10. In a safety razor having a handle, a head and a blade holder therein, co-operating guard members one of which includes a bar mounted in the head to swing across the blade edge from an inoperative position into operative position adjacent to the same and is provided with shoulders at each end located to engage the blade and positively preventing contact of the guard with that part of the blade edge which is located between the shoulders of the guard.

11. In a safety razor having a handle, a head and a blade holder therein, co-operating guard members, one pivotally mounted in the head and the other pivotally mounted on said guard member first mentioned, and means for swinging the latter guard member upon the first while the first is moving about its own axis into or out of guarding position with respect to the blade edge.

12. In a safety razor having a handle, a head and a rocking blade holder, a blade-guarding and blade-positioning member movable to engage a blade in the holder and hold it in shaving position, and a supplementary bail-shaped guard pivotally mounted at its ends upon said movable guarding and blade-positioning member and movable itself about the movable axis thus provided to swing from a position remote from the blade edge to a guarding position behind said edge.

13. A safety razor of the stropping type having a handle and a head, a rocking blade holder mounted in the head, means for positively locating a perforated blade in said holder, a stop for determining the shaving position of the blade holder, a guard for one side of a blade in the holder mounted for movement to and from operative position about an axis parallel to that of the holder, and a guard for the other side of the blade mounted for pivotal movement and actuated by the movement of the guard first mentioned to move into its operative guarding posiion.

14. A safety razor of the stropping type having a handle, a rocking blade holder, a stop for arresting the holder in a downwardly and forwardly inclined shaving position, an under guard movable to and from a position in guarding relation with respect to the lower side of a blade in said holder, and an upper guard mounted to rock on the said under guard and rocked thereby across the edge and over the upper side of the blade to a guarding position with respect thereto.

JOSEPH MUROS. 

